I'll Look After You
by shadowwhisper123
Summary: Eight-year-old Dick Grayson (shortly after being taken in as Bruce Wayne's ward) and Alfred Pennyworth spend another night alone in Wayne manor by themselves while Batman patrols the streets of Gotham before he begins his training to become Robin.


"Uh, Mr. Wayne, I-I mean Bruce, I finished all my homework. Can we-"

"Sorry, Dick. Not tonight. I need to work again."

Eight-year-old Dick Grayson's face fell and his heart sank. He lowered his eyes to the floor and stared at his sneakers despondently.

Bruce Wayne sighed and offered his new ward a gentle smile. "It's just boring grown-up stuff. Don't worry. You're not missing out on anything."

He knelt down in front of Dick and laid a large hand on his small shoulder. "I'll make it up to you soon, all right?"

Dick rubbed his nose and then held out one of his tiny fingers. "Pinky promise?"

Bruce blinked, unsure of how to respond. "Uhhh…"

He saw his faithful butler standing above them. Alfred Pennyworth got his hand to mimic the boy's, and gave him a look that made it clear that Bruce should do the same. Which he did.

"Yeah-pinky promise."

Dick wrapped his smaller finger around Bruce's. "Okay."

"Good. He ate all his dinner, right, Alfred?"

"Indeed he did, sir. Though I must report that it was a bit of a struggle to get young Master Richard to finish all of his steamed broccoli."

Dick looked down at shoes again. "Broccoli's gross," he muttered.

"That's no good, Dick. You've really got to be sure to eat a healthy diet. And I don't want to hear about you giving Alfred a hard time," Bruce admonished.

"I'm sorry," Dick replied earnestly, looking back and forth between them both. "I'll be better next time."

"Do not feel too ashamed, Master Richard. I assure you that you were not nearly as difficult about eating your vegetables as Master Bruce was at your age. The battles I fought to get him to eat enough of his spinach and brussels sprouts would have proved a veritable challenge for Napoleon himself."

Bruce's face turned the slightest bit red, in spite of himself. "Alfred!"

The small boy giggled. "Hee hee! Really?"

Bruce coughed and stood up again. "Look at the time. I've got to be going now. Have a good night, you two. I'll see you in the morning or afternoon, Dick."

The prince of Gotham turned on his heels and headed for the secret entrance of the bat cave, prepared to transform himself into the legendary Dark Knight.

"I say, Master Richard, are you aware of what time it is?"

Dick's ears perked up. "Time to do something fun?"

"Actually, it's time for you to have a bath."

Dick's face fell once more and he slumped over. "Awwww…" he groaned.

"Now now, none of that," said Alfred, placing a hand on Dick's back and ushering him up the staircase. "You're quite filthy."

When they made it to the bathroom, Dick found a pleasantly warm tub of water already waiting for him.

"Will you be requiring any assistance, young sir?" Alfred asked.

Dick didn't say anything, instead searching around the room and opening the cabinets under and above the sink.

"Master Richard?" Alfred continued.

"Oh! Uh, sorry, Mr. Pennyworth. I guess I'm just not used to being called that. Can't you please just call me Dick? Everyone else does."

"I'm afraid I must insist against it, sir. As long as you are in Master Bruce's care as his ward, I am your butler as well. And as such, it would not be fitting of me to speak to you as if I were not. Therefore I must continue to address you as I have been. Furthermore, while I do very much appreciate your effort to be polite, I also request that you call me Alfred as Master Bruce does."

Dick shrugged and poked his head back into the cabinet. "I don't see any bath toys. Do you have any?"

"No, sir. We disposed of Master Bruce's toys long ago and there haven't been any other children in this manor. You won't find any here."

Alfred saw yet another look of sheer disappointment cross Dick's face and he couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him. "However," he began. "Should you desire me to purchase some new ones for you, I would be quite willing to do so. All you need do is ask."

"Thanks, Alfred."

"You're welcome. Now then, arms up," said the butler.

Alfred hooked his fingers under the hem of Dick's shirt and sweatshirt and started to pull them off over his head, the same way he used to with young Bruce when he had become his caretaker. Before he could finish, Dick stepped back away from him.

"I-I can do it all by myself!" Dick said. "Can you just close the door and wait outside?"

Alfred nodded, respecting his modesty. "Very well. I shall come back in twenty minutes time to ensure that you are properly clean, and then you will dry yourself off, brush your teeth, and go to bed."

"Okay."

Alfred exited the room and let Dick take his bath while he went back to the kitchen to finish the dinner dishes that still remained in the sink. When he returned, Dick was already dry and brushing his teeth at the sink, a ltowel tied around his waist. Alfred brought him a pair of pajamas and bade him goodnight after he walked to his room with him and turned off the light.

Alfred remembered that he had a great deal of dusting to do, so he went down the hall to the study and began to remove various items from the shelves and surfaces and clean them. After that, he went to the library and dusted that room as well. By then, two hours had passed. He decided to go and check on the young Master, yet another thing that he had done for Bruce when he was a child. As quietly as he could, Alfred opened the door to his room. His pulse quickened when he saw that the bed was empty. Alfred turned the lights on and hurriedly scanned the room for any sign of Dick. The windows weren't open, and they couldn't be closed from the outside, so he hadn't gone out through one of them.

"Master Richard?" he called. "Master Richard, where are you?!"

He ran back downstairs. "Master Richard?" he repeated in a louder voice as he went looking from room to room. "Master Richard, if you don't answer me right this minute, I am going to be very cross!"

He reached the salon, opened the door and turned on a lamp. The butler found Dick on the sun seat, his hands cupped around his eyes as he peered out into the darkness. Lying next to him on the seat were several books, a notepad, a pen, and a flashlight. Dick was apparently so focused on what was going on outside that he failed to notice that he was no longer alone in the room.

Alfred tapped his foot and cleared his throat with disdain. "Richard John Grayson! What are you doing out of bed at this hour?" he scolded.

Dick bolted and turned around, shrinking back against the window at the sight of a very angry Alfred.

"I…I…um…" he stammered.

"Well? Come on, out with it," said Alfred.

"I…er…I…" was all that could come of Dick's mouth.

Alfred sighed. Perhaps he had been too harsh.

"Well, no matter what the reason may be, you still need to go back to sleep. It's far past your bedtime."

"But-"

"Do not attempt to argue with me. You are not staying up another second," Alfred commanded. He bent down, picked him up under his shoulders, and carried him all the way back to his bedroom. He felt Dick gingerly place his arms around his neck, and gratefully took that as a sign that the boy was beginning to trust him and didn't feel afraid of him. Alfred carefully set Dick down on the bed and pulled the blankets and quilt up to his torso, propping several wide pillows up behind him. He went to fetch the clearly distraught boy a glass of water and placed it on the bedside table. He then began to speak again in a quieter and calmer voice.

"Now would you care to explain to me why you were downstairs a few moments ago and staring out the window?"

Dick stared back up at him with his round, robin's egg blue eyes, and then he turned his head and his gaze shifted to one of the windows in this room.

"Do you think he's okay out there?"

Alfred pondered this for a moment. "Batman? Of course. I can attest to the fact that he is far stronger, wiser, and swifter than an average man and the majority of the criminals in this city. You have nothing to fear."

"But what about the other ones?"

The old man quirked a brow. "The other criminals?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, of course not all of them are easily defeated or captured. However, Master Bruce has always come back alive to fight another day," He offered the boy a reassuring smile. "In fact, I daresay that he can do anything that he puts his mind to."

Dick pressed his lips together and he started shivering all over.

Alfred's eyes widened. "Master Richard? Are you all right? Are you cold?"

He felt Dick's forehead, wondering if he had suddenly come down with a chill. But then he noticed a tear trickle from his eye. He had started to cry.

"Master Richard? What's wrong?" Alfred inquired in a very concerned tone. He gently gripped Dick's shoulders as the boy covered his face with his hands.

"That's what I thought about my Mom and Dad. I thought that they could do anything and that nothing would ever happen to them but then they were-they…"

The lump in his throat swelled and rendered him unable to speak. When he couldn't hold back any longer, Dick burst into tears and sobbed.

"He's all alone out there Alfred. What if something happens to him? What if one of those bad guys gets him? He'll be gone and…and I'll be all alone, again! I don't wanna go back to the children's home! I don't want Bruce to die, too!"

Alfred's heart ached. Dick was scared, sad, uncertain, vulnerable, alone and without a friend in the world. But he could change that. He had helped carry Bruce though the grimmest and most hopeless time of his life. Now it was time for them to do the same for Dick. The butler wrapped his arms around the crying boy and held him close until he managed to calm himself down.

"You'll never have to worry about that, dear boy," he whispered. "I'll look after you. For as long as you need me and no matter what, I'll look after you."

Dick took his face off of Alfred's chest and stared up at him hopefully, his eyes red and puffy.

Alfred smiled one more time and raised his littlest finger. "And that is my promise."

Dick rubbed his eyes and gave a little grin, thankfully accepting this bit of comfort and doing another pinky swear. Alfred took a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to then boy and let him clean up his face.

"Now will you go to sleep?"

Dick nodded and lay down on the bed. "Yep," he answered with a yawn.

"Very good," he said, pulling the all the way over him and tucking him in. The butler got up and paused in the doorway before turning out the lights to say "Pleasant dreams."

"Alfred?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think that maybe I could go out there too and help him?"

"Help him?" Alfred asked incredulously. "Fight crime? But you're just a child! I'll never allow it and neither will Master Bruce."

"Maybe I'm too little right now, but I don't want what happened to me, my parents, and his parents to happen to anyone else. I want to help other people feel safe and let bad people know that they're the ones should be scared, like he does. And I need to know that he's okay. If he falls, _I_ wanna be there to catch him."

Alfred just sighed. But he could tell from the look in Dick's eyes that this was a goal and a dream that he would not give up until he achieved it. The boy was strong and resilient. It would make him worry, but Dick had the potential to be a hero. Already, Alfred could see that in him. Not to mention that if there was one thing that Gotham needed, it was justice and reasons to hope and believe in good. So he gave a curt nod.

"Someday, Master Richard," he concluded. "Someday."

Dick nodded back. "Someday, for sure."

"Good night. Go to sleep."

"Good night, Alfred."

At last, he closed the door and switched off the light. Dick started counting sheep in an effort to make himself more tired, but he knew he couldn't fall asleep until he knew a certain something. His heart leapt when he heard the sound of a door opening and a pair of footsteps walking inside.

"He's home! Yes!" Dick thought to himself happily.

"Not much crime tonight, sir?" he heard Alfred ask.

"No, not tonight, Alfred. Or at least nothing that the police can't handle on their own. So I thought I'd take your advice and try and catch up on work in the cave or get some rest. I probably won't be so lucky again anytime soon."

Dick closed his eyes. "Someday, for sure," he thought. "I'll be with him out there. Someday, for sure."

* * *

So that's that. I tried to keep everyone in character, but if I did not, please tell me! I also hope that this wasn't too cheesy.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!-

Shadow


End file.
